Hi friends! Happy weekend!

I started a book on vacation that I could not put down. And I've been so excited to tell you about it because I think you'll love it too.

My goodness, friends, this is a GOOD read. Compelling characters you'll cheer for, suspense, romance, and a partners-in-crime romance trope. Joanna writes characters in such a way that you feel every emotion right along with them. It was nearly impossible to put down. I highly recommend.

Read more about it:

Unique characters and a fast-paced mystery add flavor to this sweet romance.” —Publishers Weekly

"An excellent choice for readers who love both traditional Regencies and detective mysteries.” —Library Journal

Little Sowerby, England, 1802

Miss Genevieve Wilde—a magistrate’s daughter and independent heiress—is determined to meet life’s challenges all on her own, just as her late father had taught her. So when her father’s pocket watch is stolen, she will do anything to get it back, especially when the local authorities prove incompetent.

Upon reading an advertisement in the paper, she takes a chance and contacts a thief-taker to find the watch. It’s a choice Ginny regrets when former Bow Street officer Jack Travers arrives on her doorstep. He is frustratingly flirtatious, irritatingly handsome, and entirely unpredictable, and Ginny wonders if she’ll be able to resist such a man.

But after Ginny discovers that the missing watch is just a small part of a larger, more frightening plot against her, she needs Jack’s help more than ever. To protect her home and her reputation, the two enter into a risky charade—pretending Jack is her cousin so he can begin his investigation, starting with the household staff. As they work together to unravel the mystery, Ginny finds herself falling fast for her charismatic thief-taker, leaving her heart in just as much danger as her life.

A note from me:

This week I've been doing a lot of reflecting. In March I was diagnosed with PTSD and I've been diligently working in therapy since then to overcome this thing that has dibilitated me for far too long. I've made a lot of progress, but this week was reminded by that still, small voice that it isn't me doing all the work. I'm not healing myself, though at times I've certainly tried, growing frustrated with myself for perceived failures to get better. No, I am instead being healed by the Redeemer and Restorer, the Light of the world that darkness cannot overcome. And though that healing is taking longer than I would have chosen, the process is drawing me closer to Him, weeding out that independent desire to do all things on my own.

I'm seeing glimpses of my story, my thoughts, my struggles in the characters I write: my stuborn independence in Rebecca, my desire for perfection and acceptance in Henry, my desire to be valued in Anne. I wrote those things into those characters, reflecting myself in them without even realizing I was doing so. And while the Lord used me to craft their stories of finding Him in that fictional world, He was giving me His assurance that I too can find healing and redemption in Him.

I say all that to encourage you. In the waiting. In the pain. In the frustration and the feeling unseen, know that you are loved beyond measure and the Lord is giving you what you need to have more of Him. He came to give us himself more abundantly that we can fathom this side of eternity.

Guest Author Spotlight

Lady Avery and the False Butler

Author: Sofi Laporte

Genre: Regency Romance

When a spirited spinster enlists her butler’s help to turn her life around, it leads to an unfathomable mystery, great danger, and a chance at love in this rollicking Regency romance.

Lady Avery Heywood has never been kissed. She’s never had a Season, danced the waltz at a ball, or been in love. The staunch spinster has resigned herself to a loveless existence, where she dutifully raises her brother’s four children and cares for an ageing aunt. But Avery yearns to break free from the shackles of her humdrum existence. Determined to check off each item on her list of unfulfilled dreams, she turns to her butler for assistance. Little does she know that beneath her butler’s unassuming demeanour lies a secret that could forever alter their destinies.

As Avery and her enigmatic butler navigate the bewildering world of high society and its glittering balls, their worlds collide in a tumultuous dance of mixed identities and hidden desires. But as class lines blur and danger looms, she wonders: Who is Jerkins, really? Servant, lord, rakehell…or perhaps even a daring highwayman?

Before long, Avery finds herself tumbling into a splendid adventure of mistaken identity, danger, and intrigue. In this lively and romantic tale of love against all odds, Avery will discover that true passion can be found with the most unexpected of people…

Get it Here!

"But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine."

Isaiah 43:1